When the Crowne Plaza Hotel first opened its doors in Newcastle’s Stephenson Quarter, it marked the beginning of one of the most important developments the city has seen in many a decade. Coreena Ford met the man in charge.

Andrew Fox secured one of the most sought-after hospitality roles in the North East when he was asked to run the new Crowne Plaza and it represented a welcome homecoming too.

Having spent almost 30 years in the hospitality trade, Newcastle-born Andrew, now 50, has worked in hotels the length and breadth of Britain, moving from one city to another in a sector in which those with ambition must move around – a lot – if they wish to progress.

He and his family have now set down more permanent roots after moving back to the region, where Andrew has been part of the first phase of Stephenson Quarter’s transformation from the very start (quite literally; he was appointed when contractors had barely put their portable cabins in place).

The 251-bed hotel, operated by IHG and owned by developers Clouston Group, has now completed its first 12 months of trading, garnering high occupancy rates and high-praise in consumer ratings.

And Andrew says it could become an even greater success with the weight of the North East business community behind it.

“I’m thoroughly enjoying being involved in the Stephenson Quarter and there are a very exciting few years ahead of us,” he said.

Born in Ponteland, Andrew’s career might have been very different if he’d pursued first true vocational love - music. Playing various instruments in a youth orchestra, including piano in indie-pop band Shanks Armitage, he took his music very seriously.

“Given my time again I’d have loved to have been a record producer or classical conductor. It was my career choice at the time,” he said.

However, he spent a lot of time visiting his father, who lived in Cairo. Coupled with part-time jobs studying for his A Levels, his experiences in a range of hotels crystallised his determination to get into the hospitality trade.

He said: “I just loved hotels. A lot of it came from working part-time in hotels while doing my A levels – my first job was actually at the Swallow Hotel rooftop restaurant in Newgate Street.

“Then when I used to visit my father there were a lot of hotel connections. As ex-pats do, he was either staying in one, or seeing friends of people who were members of their leisure clubs, so I just fell into it that way.”

A hotel management degree at the then Manchester Polytechnic kickstarted a long journey around a long list of hotel operators, starting in some of the most luxurious five star hotels in London.

Working in the capital was certainly an eye-opener for a young 20-something Newcastle lad too.

“I worked in the five-star market as a receptionist, and you saw all sorts,” he said. “I told off Jason Donovan for skateboarding in the lobby at Le Meridien in Piccadilly. I was also the lift operator for Princess Diana.

“We had a Champneys leisure club at Le Meridien. We always used to laugh at this woman who came in with her hoodie on covering her face and then left as Joan Collins with a full face of make-up!

“I was 21 and working hard and playing hard. I did two years in London and there were seven us living in a house that was like something out of the Young Ones. It was great – we were always out or at work – but then I thought about what I was going to do longer term.

“My ambition was to become a general manager, so I came back home, to the Gosforth Park Marriott, as front of house manager.”

Time spent gaining experience, learning the ropes in banqueting and conferencing in Gosforth, led to his first general manager position at the former Three Tuns Hotel in Durham, then operated by Swallow Hotels, when he was just 26.

More prestigious management roles them followed at the big brands, including Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Marriott, at hotels in Leeds, Liverpool, a large golf and country club in Derbyshire, and then Nottingham, where he became regional manager for a cluster of five hotels in the Midlands for Q Hotels.

Andrew Fox, General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel

However, after several years in Nottingham he was in need of a new challenge – and that was when the Clouston Group approached him, around two years ago.

It also came at a time when he was determined to set down more permanent roots, for his family as much as for himself.

Prior to returning to the North East, the longest he has remained in one place was an eight-year stay in Nottingham, and he admits the semi-nomadic lifestyle can take its toll.

“I’m quite driven and want to see a promotional route. There wasn’t a promotional route with the Marriott or with the Crowne Plaza in Nottingham, or one at Q Hotel either – I had good length of service with all of these firms but there was nowhere left for me to go.

“My three children from my first marriage are up here – they are 20, 17, and 12 now – and by far the driving force was to be back closer to them, after so many weekends of driving up the A1.

“If you want to move up the ladder and get the experience you need you have to move around. But it is hard work, for the children as well.

“My wife is from the hotel trade, so she understands. We met through work.

“But it’s time for me to have that time back – and the standard of living up here is just beautiful. I was happy to go from running five hotels to one because I looked at all the lifestyle boxes and ticked them all off.

“I’ve also never done an opening, and that’s something I always wanted to do.”

He and his second wife, who have been together 10 years, now live in Morpeth with their nine-year-old daughter and his work-life balance will be a vast improvement on his early days starting out in London, despite the work over busy periods such as the Great North Run weekend when the hotel was jam-packed with runners and their families.

As the first person to be appointed to the 100-plus team he spent many months during the hotel’s construction working from an office at the Boilershop – which is itself undergoing a transformation – so seeing the hotel rise up from the ground was something of an experience.

Since opening you’re just as likely to find him making the most of the hotel by walking around to meet and greet guests and talk to staff, as find him working in his office.

The Clouston Group is also involving Andrew and his management ream in the next stages of the £100m site.

He said: “I really was excited by the project and the fact that this is the first phase – the catalyst for the whole thing, and there are other things that are starting to happen that I am involved with.

“The Boilershop reopens next month and we will be providing all the catering. We have 10 events this year, starting in October. We can do dinners for up to 500 people there and we already have a lot of people coming round booking it up.

“The Rocket building is now open and Convergys move in next month and David always want to have a technological college here too.

“So we are the centre for any discussion, and I enjoy working with Clouston Group as well as for the IHG brand – I have feet in two camps and there are benefits for both, as well as challenges.

“I’m on the board of NewcastleGateshead Initiative now because this is a key project for the city – it is creating a whole village with business, social, leisure and education all being met as a hub moving forward.

“My role really is flying the flag for the hotel, the Stephenson Quarter and NGI.”

Andrew Fox, General Manager of the Crowne Plaza Hotel

Business so far has been good, with plenty of transcient business from the blue chip companies who have meetings and banqueting events, but Andew wants the North East business community to help entice in larger, annual conferences to Newcastle from other UK cities.

“When I go out to sell the hotel I’m actually selling this city as a destination, and I would challenge the business community to raise their own profiles, and stop their companies from going to Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow or Leeds for their business conferences. It’s that conference business we are missing.

“We’re getting there but there’s not enough of it. We are challenging the other cities for business and the whole of the city needs to focus on the, especially with the Northern Powerhouse in mind.

“We’ve had a couple of big conferences that we’ve brought here from elsewhere in the country, but it’s about constantly looking for those large events, which are often planned two years in advance. Decisions are being made now for 2018.”

Road infrastructure improvements and the city’s close connections to surrounding areas is cited as one of the best reasons for businesses to invest in based here.

Within the hotel conferencing side of the business, however, the transport infrastructure can sometimes prove to be a hindrance.

“Newcastle doesn’t have what we call 24-hour delegates. They are here for the day, have dinner or a banquet but they won’t stay overnight,” he said. “It’s too easy for them to be able to get home so they can’t justify staying, whereas in other cities it’s trickier to get home and people stay overnight.

“We have to import that business in and fly the flag of Newcastle.”

Conferencing and events usually accounts for around 50% of profits, but growth is slower because of long lead-up times.

“But growth is going in the right direction,” he said. “My job is to get the business community behind this hotel. It’s involvement in the hotel is vital.”

Occupancy rates for August stand at around 80%, which is matching the market, and the hotel has been in the top five performing Crowne Plazas in Europe all year, as well as the number one in the UK. It also has a current 4.4/5 score on Trip Advisor.

Andrew is pleased with those figures which come during a year which has seen many new entrants in Newcastle – and there are more to come.

Newcomers Premier Inn at the former Co-op HQ, Motel One in High Bridge and the Hampton by Hilton at Central Station have all opened in the last year, as well as Apple Apartments in the Bigg Market, and while the Crowne Plaza might not treat them as direct competition they are all vying for the same pot of visitors who pour into Newcastle each year.

They will soon be joined by the Travelodge at Bridge Court, an as yet unnamed hotel at Newgate Street and a Gainford Group hotel on Westgate Road – all within easy walking distance of the Crowne Plaza. And let’s not forget Gainford Group’s £12m deal to snap up the County Hotel right opposite the station.

Such a high volume of newcomers might worry some firms, but Andrew has faith in the IHG brand and its edge over the competition with its conferencing facilities.

“It’s been a tough market but I think we have done very well. In the market we’ve had another 800 bedrooms in Newcastle year-on-year and whilst the new hotels aren’t direct competitors at our price point, they do have an impact. So everyone in the industry has had it tough.

“When things like this happen, however, it raises the bar which is a good thing for the whole industry.

“But there are a lot of hotels so our occupancy levels as a city are lower than other cities, and the average rate is lower too. . .so we need more people, to get the supply and demand equation in your favour.

“That’s why all of us need to lobby for this destination. So for instance, events like the Great North Exhibition and the Transplant Games all help but they are one-offs and we need the regular conferences - things that are on the circuit, and NGI can’t do that on their own. The business community must get involved.”